Distractions

Like any writer that doesn't write professionally (and probably even some who do) I have to suffer though many, many distractions. The first one is of course work, followed closely by sleep. I figure five days out of the week (working a full time job), a minimum 14-15 hours of 24 are simply taken up by work and sleep alone.

Add eating, showering, travel time, and all the other random crap a person has to do every day, and you're left with maybe 5 to 6 hours of time that's actually yours to do with what you will. Honestly, most of my free time is taken up with gaming and reading, because they are the two things I love to do most when I'm just trying to unwind.

What about writing? I like to write, yes, but when I write I will often have to actively think about what I'm writing. Things such as scenes, if a character is actually 'in-character' based upon canon or whatever AU I'm writing. They need to be realistic with flaws, because as amusing as it can be to read about a perfect character... it gets old fast. Writing is only relaxing when I'm doing outlines and brainstorming, which is only a small part of the actual writing process.

That's why updates can take so long. Sometimes ideas take a while to appear, and other times I just can't find the gumption to actually sit and write. With Guild Wars 2 being released in just a few hours (as of this writing), I know that's going to provide some heavy... uh... distractions for a little while at least. Rewritten updates will still appear, of course, and I still have roughly one third of the next chapter of Fire Shadow done.

The worst distraction of all, though? YouTube.

Bloody related links...